UMVA has learned that Lancaster County Council voted unanimously last week to deny a conditional‑use permit for a proposed Islamic mosque and community center in the Indian Land area after angry residents passionately spoke out against it. The decision came after more than two hours of heated testimony that painted the project as an ideological threat to American values.
Residents warned that the mosque would import Sharia law and represent an ideological takeover incompatible with the nation’s founding principles. Their voices rose in a chorus of fear, demanding that the council protect the community from what they saw as a foreign intrusion.
One resident captured the crowd’s attention with a blistering declaration, insisting that Islam was not a religion but a takeover. She read a passage that called for war against nonbelievers, a stark reminder of the conflict she feared would follow.
Another neighbor voiced a practical concern, stating, “We do not want Sharia law in this area.” She added that the project would undermine the town’s values and threaten its social fabric.
Council Chair Brian Carnes tried to steer the conversation back to land‑use and infrastructure, reminding attendees that religious beliefs could not be considered in a quasi‑judicial proceeding. Yet the residents persisted, refusing to let their
